Kingman project expands mental health treatment options

KINGMAN - A six-unit outpatient crisis and stabilization unit and a 10-bed inpatient crisis recovery unit facility are under construction at 1301 W. Beale St. They are expected to open in October.

The units are being built by Southwest Behavioral and Health Services, Arizona's largest nonprofit behavioral health organization. They are designed to provide short-term psychiatric treatment and therapeutic stabilization, and should alleviate pressure on area hospitals - patients get the care they need without having to turn to emergency physicians and staff at a hospital.

"Communities need more services and individualized care, so we are growing to accommodate these increases in demand," said Jeff Jorde, Southwest Behavioral and Health Service's CEO.

The crisis observation and stabilization unit will have six treatment areas outfitted with sophisticated medical recliners with sensors so that adults in crisis can be admitted, medically monitored and treated. This unit can support patients for up to 23 hours before discharging them to the next level of care or back into the community, depending on the situation.

The crisis recovery unit, or CRU, will be available to offer urgent behavioral health care for psychiatric patients in acute distress who would typically be sent to hospitals in Las Vegas or Phoenix.

The CRU provides medical treatment and longer-term stays until the patient is stabilized. The CRU will have space for 10 beds once it is fully built out, but will open in October with eight beds.

"Northern Arizona especially is growing and changing," said Lauren Lauder, vice president of Northern Arizona Services for SBHS. "As the region changes, so do the needs of individual communities."

Southwest Behavioral already has a Kingman location at 2215 Hualapai Mountain Road. The company's facilities in Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City and Flagstaff are also being upgraded.